2:40 AM,
Jan. 25, 2013

Olivia Zimmerman, an employee at the Humane Society of Marathon County, interacts with a dog at the shelter in Wausau.

Written by

Amanda Seitz
Daily Herald Media

The Humane Society of Marathon County needs an extra $168,000 from the county to stay open and shelter thousands of strays annually, an official from the organization said Wednesday.

About 1,400 cats and dogs were picked up and shipped to the humane society last year, said the humane society's President Linda Berna-Karger. She said the $132,000 the county gives to the humane society annually doesn't pay for all of the costs of sheltering those animals and left the humane society with a $93,000 deficit last year.

"We cannot afford to run that deficit again this year," Berna-Karger said. ...